The Maple Leafs held a practice at Ford Performance Centre on Tuesday before travelling to Columbus.

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At the end of practice, Craig Berube had a message for his team.

“The glass is half full, not half empty,” the Leafs coach told the players at the stretch circle at the end of the 40-minute workout.

“That’s the way you gotta look at things,” Berube told reporters a few minutes later. “Glass is half full. We’ve got an opportunity to go in tomorrow and get two points, and that’s got to be our focus, and then we’ll go from there to the next game.”

The Leafs will open a five-game trip in Columbus on Wednesday.

Berube stressed to his players that they need to turn the page on the loss in Montreal, which the coach labelled as “inexcusable” on Saturday.

“We had a real good meeting this morning,” Berube said. “Going over some stuff and what we’ve got to be better at and where we will be better at. I thought the vibe was good, and the guys were good, and a good practice. It was a good hard practice.”

Following a day off on Sunday, the team held a skill development practice on Monday with the top-minute players staying off the ice to get additional rest. Tuesday marked the first time the full team hit the ice together since the disappointing defeat against the Canadiens.

The Leafs are languishing in last place in the Eastern Conference after going winless in seven of eight games (1-5-2).

“It was a positive vibe in here today,” goalie Joseph Woll said. “I think we see the opportunity ahead of us in this road trip and just keep moving forward.”

The team will hold an optional skate in Columbus on Wednesday morning.

Berube urges ‘glass half full’ approach; status of Leafs injured players unclear Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube shared some positive words for his team at Tuesday’s practice and he explained the ‘glass half full’ comment he had for his players as they prepare for the next five games on the road. The players spoke about having a few days off to reset while Berube offered updates on a few injuries.

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The vibes will improve even more if some of the team’s injured players are able to return. There are six regulars currently sidelined, including forwards Auston Matthews, Nicolas Roy, and Matthew Knies, who all participated in practice.

Berube’s media sessions have been dominated by injury-related questions of late. On Tuesday, the coach pre-empted questions by making an opening statement.

“Knies, Matthews, and Roy all practised today,” he said. “Looked good. They did finish practice, but still got to see about tomorrow. So that’s where they’re at. But it was good that they’re out there and finished practice and went through all the drills and, yeah, so that’s where they’re at.”

Berube noted that he did not speak with the players or the medical staff before meeting with the media.

Matthews, Roy and Knies skated together on the same line at practice even though both Matthews and Roy are centres. Why did Berube have that trio together?

“Just because they’re out right now, right,” he said. “So I put them on a line together. And I just wanted to see what it looked like.”

It was the second practice for Matthews and Knies since they exited the lineup. It was the first practice for Roy.

Matthews is dealing with a lower-body injury sustained on Nov. 11. Knies is recovering from a lingering lower-body issue and last played on Nov. 15. Roy is working his way back from an upper-body injury and also last played since Nov. 15.

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Jake McCabe left Saturday’s game after taking a puck to the side of the face in the second period. It looked scary in the moment.

“Honestly, not really that scary,” the 32-year-old defenceman said. “That happens quite a bit, honestly, [with the] puck ramping off your stick. This one just blew up. Like, my face just blew up right away. So, they just wanted to make sure there’s no fracture, which there’s not. So, yeah, got lucky, I guess, on that one.”

McCabe participated fully in practice on Tuesday.

“I thought he’d have a bubble on,” Berube said, “but no bubble or anything. He’s got the toughness, and we’re very fortunate to have him.”

McCabe’s face is still in rough shape with stitches and swelling evident.

“I wish my face looked a little prettier every now and then,” he said with a smile. “My kids are getting used to it. It’s a tough sport, but I embrace that part of it, and oftentimes it makes me play better.”

McCabe’s young kids are growing more accustomed to their dad’s battle scars.

“They’re starting to get a little bit more used to it,” he said with a grin. “My daughter asked me if after this road trip my face will look normal. I said, ‘I think so. I hope so.’ Knock on wood.”

At this point, McCabe actually knocked on the wood ledge behind him.

“Hopefully there’s not a new one on this trip,” he said.

Leafs’ McCabe gets questioned by kids after ‘face blew up’ in Montreal Jake McCabe left Saturday’s game against the Canadiens midway through the second period after a pass rode up his stick and hit him in the face. It’s nothing new to the defenceman, who joked that his kids are getting used to seeing his face mangled.

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The Leafs, who are 1-6-0 on the road this season, are now heading on a season-long trip, which includes stops in Columbus, Washington, Pittsburgh, Sunrise, Fla. and Raleigh.

“There’s a lot of hockey to be played and just kind of got to stay with it,” said centre John Tavares. “It’s a great opportunity on this road trip to do some good things, earn some results and put ourselves in a good spot.”

Toronto’s longest road trip so far has only been two games.

“Excited for our first real road trip of the year,” McCabe said. “I think it comes at a good time for us and excited to start it off tomorrow night.”

The hope is this road trip will help the team come together and serve as a turning point for the season.

“We discussed that, and I know the team discussed it too,” Berube said. “It is one game at a time, because you always need to just focus on the game and what you’re doing, but this trip could put us in a real good spot, in my opinion, from where we’re at right now.”

The Leafs went 25-13-3 on the road last season, which tied the Washington Capitals for the top points percentage (.646) in away games.

“It’s good that we’re getting on the road and being together as a group,” said Berube. “It’s always a different feel when you’re all together in hotel rooms and at the rink and hanging out together all the time and, you know, not dealing with family. I know you’ve still got to deal with them, but from afar. So that’s always a good thing. I always found getting on the road when you’re in tough times helps the team.”

Why Leafs feel longest road trip of the season is coming at a good time After a few days off between games, the Maple Leafs will head out to play the remaining five games of their six-game road trip. The team acknowledges that being together as a group on the road has its advantages and feel this portion of the schedule is coming at a good time.

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Berube pulled Woll from the game on Saturday night after the Canadiens went up 4-0.

“He was so pissed off at me for pulling him the other night,” Berube revealed. “But I like that. And, you know, he wanted to be in there and fight, and that’s good.”

Montreal outshot Toronto 16-1 to start the second period so Berube decided to change goalies to try and spark his team while also preserving Woll’s energy level.

“It was a busy period,” Woll said. “I think stuff like that happens naturally. Like, sometimes you have periods where the other team is taking it to you a bit. We have periods like that plenty, too. Honestly, I was having fun battling out there. Of course, any time you get out of the net, I’m not very happy. I thought we still had a chance to come back. I thought we were getting some momentum a bit and it ended up not going our way.”

The visiting bench at the Bell Centre is too small for the back-up goalie so Woll was forced to hang out along the glass at the hallway leading to the Leafs dressing room.

“It’s a little weird,” he said. “Fans are giving it to you a little bit and stuff. It’s always weird when you’re right next to the fans because you go from being in the game to feeling like you’re a spectator. That’s a bit of a weird transition.”

On Wednesday, Woll will be back in the action. He is in line to make a fifth straight start since returning from personal leave.

“I’m just trying to continue doing what I do,” the 27-year-old said. “Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose … I think I’m confident where I’m at. I feel good physically, mentally so I’m just going to keep trudging along.”

Woll is 1-2-1 with a .905 save percentage.

“He’s been a very calming presence, I guess, is the best way I can describe with him back there,” McCabe said. “I think he’s done a very, very good job and been good with the puck and talking to us D-men.”

Woll is 1-1-1 with a .906 save percentage against the Jackets. He has never started a game in Columbus.

Out since Nov. 11 with an upper-body injury, opening-night starter Anthony Stolarz is still not skating.

Berube on pulling Woll during latest Leafs loss: ‘He was so pissed off at me’ Joseph Woll gave up four goals on 25 shots before he was pulled with 6:49 left in the second period Saturday against the Canadiens. Despite the rough night, Woll said he was having fun battling while it lasted and is confident with where his game is physically and mentally.

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Woll was between the pipes last Thursday when the Blue Jackets beat the Leafs 3-2 in overtime.

“I know some things to expect from playing them just a couple of days ago, but day-to-day my process doesn’t really change,” Woll said.

Adam Fantilli scored twice, including the overtime winner, and added one assist to spark the Columbus win. The Jackets centre, who is from Nobleton, Ont., also scored a hat trick in a game in Toronto last season.

“Fantilli has his way with us it seems like every game we play him,” Berube said. “He’s a hell of a player. But they’ve got some high-end young players that are good players.”

Fantilli has racked up six goals and eight points in eight career games against his hometown team.

The Jackets are going for a season sweep against the Leafs after also posting a 6-3 win over Toronto on Oct. 29 at Nationwide Arena.

“I thought we played a pretty good, solid hockey game against them here the last time,” Berube said. “Even in Columbus, other than the goals we gave them, that was self-inflicted, I thought we had some real good things going on against them.”

The Jackets are hoping to have defenceman Zach Werenski in their lineup after he left Monday’s game in Washington with an upper-body injury. Werenski is second overall in average ice time this season (26:26 seconds TOI/G).

#CBJ injury updates from Dean Evason:

Werenski: “Working through some stuff today” but expect him to skate tomorrow morning and see where he’s at.

Marchenko and Olivier seeing doctors today.

Monahan maintenance day “but he’s dealing with some stuff as well.”

Jenner and…

— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) November 25, 2025

“A tremendous amount of speed and ability to make plays off the rush,” Tavares said of the Jackets. “Obviously a player like Werenski is almost like a fourth forward out there with his ability to cover ice and be up in the play and be so involved. He’s got great feet, so he’s able to be so aggressive because of his ability to recover. We really felt it when we were in there last time and we did a much better job when we played them here at home last week.”

Werenski had a goal and an assist in the first game against the Leafs, but was limited to one assist on the overtime winner last week.

With 21 points, Werenski is tied for third in scoring by a defenceman.

Leafs look to limit Fantilli and avoid being swept by Jackets The Maple Leafs will play the Blue Jackets for the second time in less than a week and will be looking to avoid a season series sweep. Head coach Craig Berube praised Columbus’ offence and admitted that, ‘Fantilli has his way with us it seems like every game we play him.’

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During Thursday’s game against the Jackets, righty William Nylander shifted to the left side of the top line beside Tavares and fellow righty Calle Jarnkrok. He started on the left again on Saturday.

“It gives him a different look on the other side,” Berube explained. “Same as on the power play sometimes, coming down his off-side, downhill. He just likes to mix it up. I’m good with it if he wants to be on left or right. It depends on who his linemates are and what’s going on.”

Nylander started Tuesday’s practice on the right side beside Tavares and rookie Easton Cowan, a lefty who usually plays the right side. However, as practice progressed, Nylander appeared to be taking some reps back on the left.

“It can be a little different,” said Tavares. “Just the plays for me to him, at least coming up the ice, aren’t on my forehand to his forehand, it’s backhand to backhand. But, in general, we’ve played with each other long enough, so we have a really good sense of how each other play, how we play off one another, and how we got to continue to push each other to be better and support one another.”

Nylander, Jarnkrok and Roy are Toronto’s only right-shooting forwards.

Despite lack of righty forwards, Leafs intrigued by Nylander on off wing The Maple Leafs don’t have a lot of right-shot forwards but head coach Craig Berube opted to have a look at William Nylander on the off wing. Berube explained why he doesn’t mind mixing things up with Nylander.

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Berube is leaning on Tavares and Nylander quite a bit with Matthews sidelined. The workload may have caught up to them in Montreal where Tavares was held without a point for the first time since Matthews exited the lineup.

Tavares is averaging 21 minutes and 53 seconds of ice time in the five games since replacing Matthews as the top-line centre. The 35-year-old was held off the ice on Monday for additional rest.

“I think the last couple of days have been good for us, having a few days between games here to just kind of take a minute, you know, reset a little bit and refocus and be excited about tomorrow,” Tavares said.

Toronto will play 14 games over the next 28 days heading into the holiday break.

“It’s a lot of hockey coming up on this trip, and then really up until Christmas it’s going to be fast and furious,” Tavares said. “We know we got to be more consistent and we’ve got to execute a lot better at a higher level and do a better job putting ourselves in better spots to win hockey games.”

Leafs get mental and physical reset ahead of ‘critical’ road trip  After a full day off on Sunday, the Maple Leafs decided to not hold a full practice Monday, with their high-minutes players held off of the ice, while others working with development staff. Head coach Craig Berube said it was to give the team a mental break ahead of a critical Eastern Conference road swing.

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On Monday night, the Leafs organization gathered at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel for the annual ‘A Night With Blue & White’ gala to support the MLSE Foundation.

“This is what it’s all about, really,” forward Max Domi told Leafs team reporter Ryan Leslie. “I mean, you get really stuck in the bubble of just hockey, hockey, hockey, and I think, especially with right now with what we got going on and the kind of the struggle bus that we’re on, it’s nice to kind of reconnect with the community about something that really does truly matter, right? You’re making a difference by being here and spending some time with the great fans that we have.”

The theme of the event was casino night. Defenceman Chris Tanev was credited for having the best poker face.

“He doesn’t have a heartbeat,” Matthews told Leslie. “I can never get a read on him. I don’t think many guys can.”

“McCabe has got a nice poker face,” said Domi. “The other guy is Tanev. He only plays when he knows he’s going to win. If Tanny’s in you better just fold right away.”

Centre Scott Laughton was ribbed for his lack of card skills.

“He’s the worst,” Matthews said with a smile. “I don’t play much, but when I do he’s usually the guy who’s donating to me. So, he’s a nice guy to play with.”

“I’m awful,” Laughton confirmed to Leslie. “I am an awful poker player. I’m probably the worst. But I compete and I play pretty loose. It’s more about the vibes at the table, I think.”

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Lines at Leafs practice on Tuesday:

Cowan – Tavares – Nylander

Robertson – Domi – Jarnkrok

Lorentz – Laughton – McMann

Joshua/Blais – Quillan – Maccelli

Knies – Matthews – Roy

Rielly – Ekman-Larsson

Benoit – McCabe

Mermis – Stecher

Myers

Woll

Hildeby